Pekin alum Jeff Maeder becomes school’s interim superintendent

FAIRFIELD – Pekin’s new interim superintendent is a familiar face in Jeff Maeder, who will be returning to the school he graduated from in 1984.

In May, the Pekin Community School Board selected Maeder to serve as the district’s superintendent for one year beginning July 1. Maeder currently works for Great Prairie Area Education Association as regional director in the Burlington region, where he oversees the districts of Burlington, Danville, New London, West Burlington and Burlington-Notre Dame.

Locals may remember Maeder’s tenure as superintendent at Columbus Community and Winfield-Mt. Union. He was superintendent at WMU for five years, then as a shared superintendent with the two districts for another three years until landing his current job with Great Prairie AEA last year. Before that, he was the high school principal at Columbus Community.

Maeder said he lives near Columbus Junction, and he plans to stay there and commute to Pekin. Maeder grew up in the Richland area, so he’s excited to be able to serve his home school district. In fact, even though he graduated from high school 40 years ago, a few of his teachers are still with the district, such as Davis Eidahl.

“The school has changed since then, but the facilities are really great for a school that size,” Maeder said. “I was in seventh grade when the new elementary school was built by the high school, so I spent grades 7-8 in that building. I can remember it being brand-new, and it’s still in really great shape. We are looking at some fairly significant improvements to that building since it’s nearly 50 years old.”

After Maeder graduated from Pekin in 1984, he attended William Penn University in Oskaloosa to get his bachelor's degree in elementary education, then got his master’s degree in education administration from the University of Iowa. He later obtained a superintendent endorsement, also from the University of Iowa.

Maeder said teaching has changed over the years. He felt there was more stability in staffing in the 1980s, less moving around, and the public had a different perception of teachers.

“Teachers were held in higher esteem, which they should still be today,” he said.

He knows he can’t return to the 1980s, but he’s glad to have made so many great memories at Pekin, and that he’s never lost his passion for the district.

“I’ve always been observing the success of Pekin over the years,” he said. “I want to bring back those glory years in some way, and I want kids to experience what I experienced at Pekin.”

Maeder was first assigned to work with Pekin when the school board parted ways with former superintendent Derek Philips in March. Maeder was asked to shepherd Pekin through the end of the school year, and later the school board agreed to make Maeder the interim superintendent for the 2024-25 academic year.

One of the other administrators who will be joining Pekin over the summer is the recently hired elementary principal Liz Goodwin. Goodwin was most recently a teacher in the Washington school district, and has over 17 years of experience.

“We’re excited about her bringing in fresh ideas and leadership,” Maeder said.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com